Jakar: The Heart of Bhutan's Spiritual Heritage

• Helloཇོ གཏོར
  [jo tor]
• Goodbyeབྱང བཅུག
  [yang chug]
• Yesཡིན
  [yin]
• Noམ་ཡིན
  [ma yin]
• Please/You're welcomeཤེས་ཡའི་འོག
  [she ya'i og]
• Thank youབསྐོར
  [sakor]
• Excuse me/Sorryབསྐོར
  [sakor]
• How are you?ཁྱེད་ཀྱི་གཏོར?
  [khe kyee tor?]
• Fine. And you?ལེགས་གཏོར. ཁྱེད་དེ?
  [lek tor. khe de?]
• Do you speak English?ཡང་དེ་ཨིང་ལིཤ་འདི་ཞིབ་སྦྱོར?
  [yang de English di zhib jor?]
• I don't understandཁྱེད་ཀྱི་གཏོར?
  [khe kyee tor?]

• I'd like to see the menu, pleaseམེ་ནི་ཁོལ་ན་བཅུག
  [me ni khol na chug]
• I don't eat meatགིས་ལེབ་འབབ་བཅུག
  [gi leb bab chug]
• Cheers!ལསང་བཅུག!
  [lasang chug!]
• I would like to pay, pleaseང་ངེད་བཅུག, བཅུག
  [nga nged chug, chug]

• Help!སྔར་བཅུག!
  [ngar chug!]
• Go away!སུམ་བཅུག!
  [sum chug!]
• Call the Police!ལས་ཆེན་ཡོང་ཇོར!
  [las chen yong jor!]
• Call a doctor!ཨོད་ཐོར་ཡོང་ཕྱིན!
  [o thar yong chen!]
• I'm lostང་དེར་བྱ་བཅུག
  [nga der ja chug]
• I'm illང་འཛིན་བཅུག
  [nga dzin chug]

• I'd like to buy...ང་ངེད་ཀྱི་གཏོར
  [nga nged kyee tor]
• I'm just lookingང་ར་བྱིབས
  [nga ra yibs]
• How much is it?དངོས་ཀྱི་གཏོར?
  [ngos kyee tor?]
• That's too expensiveདེ་མའི་གཏོར
  [de ma'i tor]
• Can you lower the price?ཁྱབ་ནི་གཏོར?
  [khab ni tor?]

• What time is it?གུས་པར་ཉིད་ཁར?
  [guspar nid kar?]
• It's one o'clockམིང་དེར་ཤུ ཆུ
  [ming der shu chu]
• Half past (10)ཁྱེར་དེར་(10)
  [kher der (10)]
• Morningསྔོན
  [ngon]
• Afternoonཆུས
  [chu]
• Eveningམཚ
  [tsa]
• Yesterdayཁ་ཞི
  [kha zhi]
• Todayདེ་ར་ཞེས
  [de ra zhe]
• Tomorrowམགུང
  [gang]
• 1གཅིག
  [gchig]
• 2གཉིས
  [gnyis]
• 3གསུམ
  [gsum]
• 4མུ
  [mu]
• 5ལྔ
  [lnga]
• 6དྲུག
  [drug]
• 7བཅད
  [chad]
• 8ཁྲི
  [khri]
• 9དགུ
  [dgus]
• 10བར
  [bar]

• Where's a/the...?ལག་ཞིས་དུ་...
  [lag zhi du...]
• What's the address?ཐོབ་ལས་གཏོར?
  [thob las tor?]
• Can you show me (on the map)?ཚོག་འདི་གཏོར?
  [tsok di tor?]
• When's the next (bus)?གསོལ་གྲོས་དུ་གཏོར?
  [sol gros du tor?]
• A ticket (to ....)གཏེར་ཁོང་(....)
  [ter khong (....)]

Jakar, also known as 'Little White Bird,' was founded in the 16th century by the great Tibetan Lama Ngagi Wangchuk. Legend says that a white bird signaled an auspicious location for the construction of a monastery, which eventually led to the establishment of Jakar Dzong. This dzong became the central administrative and monastic institute for the region.

In 1646, Jakar Dzong played a pivotal role in the defense against Tibetan invasions. The battle was fierce, and the Bhutanese forces, led by the Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, successfully repelled the Tibetan army. This victory cemented Jakar's importance as a strategic and spiritual stronghold in Bhutan.

Kurjey Lhakhang, one of the most sacred monasteries in Bhutan, was built in the 8th century. It is believed that Guru Rinpoche meditated in a cave here, leaving his body imprint on a rock. This monastery complex, located near Jakar, is a significant pilgrimage site and a testament to the region's deep spiritual heritage.

Constructed in the 19th century by Trongsa Penlop Jigme Namgyal, the Wangduechhoeling Palace served as the residence of the first and second kings of Bhutan. Located in Jakar, this palace symbolizes the transition of Bhutan from a feudal society to a modern state under the Wangchuck dynasty.

Jakar hosts the Jambay Lhakhang Drup, an annual festival that celebrates the establishment of Jambay Lhakhang, one of the oldest temples in Bhutan. The festival features traditional dances, including the sacred fire dance 'Mewang,' and attracts pilgrims and tourists from all over the world to witness its vibrant cultural performances.

The Bumthang Cultural Trek, which starts from Jakar, offers a unique opportunity to explore the historical and cultural landscapes of the Bumthang Valley. The trek passes through ancient temples, monasteries, and traditional villages, providing an immersive experience into the rich heritage of the region.

Jakar is located in the Bumthang District of Bhutan. The nearest international airport is Paro International Airport, approximately 270 kilometers away. From Paro, you can take a domestic flight to Bathpalathang Airport, which serves Jakar. Alternatively, you can travel by road, which takes around 8 to 10 hours, depending on weather and road conditions. There are also regular bus services from Thimphu and other major towns.

Jakar is a small town, and many of its attractions are within walking distance. Taxis are available for hire and are relatively inexpensive. Public buses operate within the town and connect to nearby areas. Renting a car is another option if you prefer to explore at your own pace; however, be prepared for winding mountain roads. Bicycles can also be rented for short-distance travel.

The official currency in Bhutan is the Bhutanese Ngultrum (BTN), which is pegged to the Indian Rupee (INR). Credit cards are accepted in some hotels, restaurants, and shops, but it is advisable to carry cash, especially in smaller establishments and rural areas. ATMs are available in Jakar, but it is wise to withdraw sufficient cash beforehand to ensure you have enough funds during your stay.

Jakar is generally a safe destination for tourists. However, it is always advisable to take standard precautions. Avoid walking alone at night in unfamiliar areas and keep an eye on your belongings in crowded places. There are no specific high-crime areas targeting tourists, but staying vigilant and aware of your surroundings is always a good practice.

In case of emergency, dial 113 for police assistance or 112 for medical emergencies. Jakar has a local police station and a medical facility that can handle minor health issues. It is highly recommended to have travel insurance that covers medical emergencies. Pharmacies are available in the town where you can purchase over-the-counter medications.

Fashion: Do dress modestly, especially when visiting religious sites. Avoid wearing revealing clothing. Religion: Do respect local customs and traditions. Always remove your shoes before entering temples and wear appropriate attire. Public Transport: Do be respectful and offer your seat to elderly passengers. Don’t eat or drink on public transport. Greetings: Do greet people with a slight bow and a 'Kuzuzangpo' (hello). A handshake is also acceptable. Eating & Drinking: Do try local delicacies and accept food offerings graciously. Don’t refuse hospitality, as it is considered impolite.

To experience Jakar like a local, visit the local markets where you can buy fresh produce and traditional Bhutanese goods. Engage with locals, as they are often friendly and willing to share stories about the town's history and culture. Don't miss visiting Jakar Dzong, a fortress-monastery with stunning views of the valley. For a unique experience, attend a local festival (Tsechu) where you can witness traditional mask dances and rituals.